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On Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2:00 PM- 2:50 PM, the Canon Memorial Library hosted Meet the Faculty, a series that showcases the talented faculty that supports Saint Leo University. This particular installment entitled “Being, Writing, and Reading a Brazen Creature” featured Dr. Anne Barngrover, a fairly new faculty member to SLU who joined the team this academic year in the Fall of 2017.
Dr. Barngrover was introduced by Reference and Instructional Outreach librarian Carol Ann Moon. Dr. Barngrover obtained her BA from Denison University, her MFA from Florida State University, and her Ph.D. in English and Creative Writing from the University of Missouri. She is a professor of English and Creative Writing.
To begin her talk, Dr. Barngrover read some selected poems from her latest work “Brazen Creature” (University of Akron Press, 2018). In one of her poems, “Fourteen,” she revisited the awkward stage that she embodied in her 14th year of life, and the poem was well received by an audience that could relate. Additionally, in her poetry, wildlife and animals is a common theme, but so was femininity. She explored the questions, “Is it possible to be a woman without shame? Is it possible to be a brazen woman?”
After her reading, Dr. Barngrover presented on her background and inspiration for her poetry. Attendees learned that she grew up in southern/central Ohio, but she lived in Missouri from 2012 until 2016 while she worked on her doctoral degree.
The landscape heavily influenced her work, so the background information is useful and interesting to know. She also said that her poetry helped very much to ground her when she was sort of living in her own head as she was caught up in the academia of working for a Ph.D.
Dr. Barngrover also described herself as a “sassy” child and as the daughter of a teacher, she always loved to read. She described herself as sensitive and emotional and confessed that she had always felt that rather than wearing her heart on her sleeve, her heart was outside of her body for all to see. From a young age, she became concerned for the rainforest and still carries her love for the environment and often worries about climate change.
Dr. Barngrover actively works to make a difference and better her community. For the past 11 years she has been working with high school sophomore to senior students in a summer program for young writers at Denison University that she looks forward to every June. In her coming works, Dr. Barngrover will advocate for women and the environment.
